1. Slide: 1 27th CEOS Plenary |Montréal | 5 - 6 November 2013 Agenda Item: 30 Stephen Briggs, Stephen Ward Ake Rosenqvist, Eugene Fosnight, Frank Martin Seifert Update on Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) and the Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG)

2. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 2 Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI) Co-leads: Australia (DoE) Norway (NSC) USA (USGS) FAO CEOS (ESA) GFOI Objectives: to foster sustained availability of satellite and ground observation in support of national forest information systems to support countries in the use of observations for their national forest information systems GFOI Country Coverage In 2013 AND 2014 2008 Establishment of GEO FCT task 2009+ FCT demonstration based on NDs 2010 GFOI Concept plan 2011 GFOI Implementation plan 2012 GFOI Start-Up Phase 2013-15Incrementing coverage 2016+ Operations Phase www.gfoi.org

3. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 3 Four Pillars of GFOI 1.Methods and Guidance Documentation (Australia lead) Coordinated approach with writing leads, external review and approval 2.Coordination of satellite data supply (CEOS lead) Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG) – ESA, NSC, USGS 3.R&D on technical challenges (Norway lead) Gap analysis, dedicated R&D plan with priority topics Enhanced cooperation with CEOS space agencies 4.Capacity Building (US lead) SilvaCarbon: focused series of workshops in Latin America Bilateral capacity-building activities in Indonesia (supported by Australia) and Tanzania (supported by Norway)

4. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 4 The Role of SDCG in GFOI Coordination of satellite data acquisition and supply is fundamental to GFOI objectives and supports all countries’ participation in reporting Satellite data can provide o Measurements of forest extend and characteristic o Support to countries in GHG Reporting o Independent Verification 2011 plenary endorsed the set-up of the Ad-hoc WG “Space Data Coordination Group” to support GFOI, putting emphasis on physical outcomes from CEOS in support of GEO activities.

5. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 5 SDCG Co-chairs: ESA, NSC, USGS SDCG Secretariat: DCCEE SDCG Members: CNES, CONAE, CRESDA, CSA, DLR, INPE, ISRO, JAXA, NASA Pending invitations: KARI, ASI Convene biannual meetings of SDCG o CSA hosted SDCG-1 in March 2012 o USGS hosted SDCG-2 in Sep 2012 o Australia hosted SDCG-3 in Feb 2013 o NASA hosted SDCG-4 in Sep 2013 o ESA will host SDCG-5 in Feb 2014 SDCG Set-up

6. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 The CEOS Data Strategy for GFOI  Element 1: A baseline, coordinated global data acquisition strategy involving a number of ‘Core data streams’ that can be used free-of-charge and openly for GFOI purposes. This will involve global, systematic and sustained wall-to-wall acquisitions of forested areas  Element 2: Coordinated strategies for national space data services including historical coverage characterisation, impartial data needs assessment, core data delivery and value adding, …  Element 3: Data supply in support of the GFOI R&D activities, including in support of: the science studies assisting the development and evolution of the Methods and Guidance document for GFOI 6

7. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 7 Accomplishment Global Baseline Strategy and Implementation Plan for 2013 approved by CEOS @ SIT-28 Baseline strategy objective to assure the availability of temporally and spatially consistent time-series of optical and SAR satellite data over the global forest cover. Initial priority on tropical forest countries developing national MRV systems for REDD+ Element 1 focus on publicly open (“core”) satellite data Phased implementation with aim at full global scale operations by 2016

8. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 8 Phased Implementation Plan 20132014

9. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 9 IP 2013: Landsat 7&8 - Americas

10. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 10 IP 2013: Landsat 7&8 - Africa

11. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 11 IP 2013: Landsat 7&8 - Asia

12. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 12 Progress and IP 2014 Core mission status Landsat 8 now fully operational and performing beyond expectations Sentinel-1A and CBERS-3 launches shifted into 2014. Expected (limited) operations in mid/late 2014. Sentinel-2A launch in late 2014. Ramping-up operations in 2015. GFOI target countries increasing from 15 to 51, approximately doubling the area.

13. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 13 Progress Element-2 Space Data Services - 4 broad categories tentatively considered: Historical Coverage Characterisation: support to assess archived satellite data for a given country for past years; Core Data Delivery: support for physical delivery of data; Core Data Value Adding: enhanced core data products Data Processing: “Data Hub” capacity to assist country generation of inputs to forest information products.

14. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 14 SEO Support to Element-2 Coverage Analyser for Historical Coverage Characterization and National Data Acquisitions: View data in graphical form Select data (Acquisitions, Cloud%) View bar charts of Total vs. Cloudy

15. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 15 Data availability 2012 low-water mark for CEOS mission availability (loss of CBERS-2, ALOS, Landsat 5, Envisat, within 1.5 yrs) Successful launch of Landsat-8 has been a big step forward, is now together with Landsat-7 the only core missions in orbit. Near-future looks positive! (CBERS-3, Sentinel-1 and -2, ALOS-2 potentially in orbit within next year) Data delivery and handling Difficulties to deliver large data volume in areas with insufficient internet connection, In country handling and processing of huge data volumes with their current IT infrastructure. Current challenges

16. 27 th CEOS Plenary Montréal, Canada 5-6 November, 2013 16 SDCG-5 planned for 25-27 Feb 2014 at ESA/ESRIN Include a country day together with FAO / UN-REDD Deliverables for CEOS SIT-29 Baseline (Element 1) implementation 2013 – results summary Element 1 Implementation Plan for 2014 GFOI Space Data Services (Element 2) Plan Others activities Seek Plenary approval for a further year of SDCG operation Advance the R&D Plan (Element-3) Improve representation of EO in the GFOI MGD Continue close co-operation with GEOGLAM Upcoming activities and milestones